Chapter Sixty-Two

Harry was dumbfounded. "Luna? How are you here?" he asked.

"I made a deal and you paid the price." Luna said easily.

"What price?" Harry asked.

"Power, silly. The queen of the winter court made a deal with me for the power of a lifetime. I knew you could handle it, so I made the same deal with the summer court." Luna said. "You ended up paying twice, but the balance was maintained."

Harry looked at Fawkes, "Do you know what she means?" he asked.

Fawkes seemed to shrug, but was dislodged from her shoulder as Harry was suddenly hugging his last living friend from his original reality. "I'm so sorry Luna. I couldn't stop it."

"I know. You did everything you could. But your destiny was never to stop it. It was to fix it after the fact." Luna said. "Now, about the wedding…"

"Damn!" Harry exclaimed. He grabbed Luna and apparated directly back to the front of the aisle. Fawkes followed after with a bit of humour sent through the familiar link as he retook his seat on The Ancient One's shoulder.

"Take a seat anywhere you want Luna. The ceremony is just about to start." Harry said urgently pointing into the crowds of people, who were all sitting and waiting.

"Okay." Luna said with a happy smile and made a beeline for where she saw the elves.

"Is that the Luna Lovegood?" Tony asked. "The one that Hermione always mentions when things don't make sense, but still work? From your old reality?"

Harry was just nodding as he watched her skip town the aisle. He had so many questions. To have to wait was torture, but he'd put it aside for now. He focussed his mind using as a little occlumency and focussed on what was most important. "We'll talk about it later." he whispered to Tony.

"Fine." Tony said. "But just so you know, the elves are bowing to her, like she's royalty."

"Part fae, remember?" Harry said. "The elves haven't seen her kind in a long time. I wouldn't be surprised if they treated her like a fairy princess."

Further conversation ended as the music selected for the wedding march started and the guests all stood up while the bride was walked down the aisle by Odin himself. She didn't have a father to give her away, but Odin had graciously volunteered. Harry saw her as he always did, one of the most beautiful women he'd ever had the good fortune of meeting and she was walking to him of all people.

He didn't even need to consciously smile for her. It just happened when she looked at him, naturally. He didn't even notice how beautiful her dress was, since it was all of secondary importance to him. She smiled demurely at him and Odin offered her hand to him as he was told to do, the symbolism lost its meaning, as Harry was now supposed to care for her, like he normally would have anyway.

The Ancient One asked for the guests to be seated and talked of commitment, love and marriage. She asked them a couple of questions and then had them exchange rings. Before she could proclaim them married, Frigga stepped forward and performed a handfastening and spoke a blessing over the couple, causing them to glow faintly. When she was done, she stepped back and both her and the Ancient One pronounced them husband and wife at the same time.

And that was that. With the ceremony completed, they walked back through the aisle and were engulfed by rose-petals. The Maids of honour and Best Man all had different duties, like helping people find their tables and handing out glasses of refreshments as they entered the ballroom, which was just there for the occasion. It would be replaced with outdoor décor later, but for now it was to keep the sun at bay and to set the mood with all the magical decorations.

Wanda had had great fun looking through spell books that were apparently specifically for occasions such as this one. Things like fairly lights that moved from table to table and a spell that would make speeches easier for everyone to hear or protections to make it so no glasses broke. Comfort spells and atmosphere changing spells to give the happy couple a surreal glow about them and a never-ending rain of glitter that disappeared a couple of feet above the tables, never obscuring anyone's vision or landing.

The island staff were soon serving drinks and snacks, which were to be served before the speeches would start. Everything was quite moving and Harry's emotions almost got the better of him when he made his speech, much to the good natured mocking of all his male friends. The Asgardians had been warned this might happen, so they accepted it in the good humour it was meant.

When all the speeches were done and people were seated for the main course, Harry finally had a moment to speak to his wife. "Don't get angry at me for this, but just before the ceremony, Fawkes and I were called to a trans-reality disturbance."

"Oh?" Natasha asked with a smile, but Harry could see a glint in her eye.

"It seems Luna wanted to attend the wedding and made a deal with something or someone called the queen of the winter and summer courts to send her here at the cost of some power, which I paid." Harry said. "Fawkes went to fetch her through the same pathway he followed to get here, or something like that."

Fawkes looked at Natasha and something passed between them. "Okay." Natasha shrugged. "I trust Fawkes not to let you get in too much trouble without me."

Harry sighed in relief. "You really are the best wife a man could ask for." he said as he leaned over to kiss her cheek.

"Don't forget it." Natasha said with a smile. She was scanning the crowd until she spotted the addition she didn't know. "Is that her? The one having a conversation with the table decoration?"

Harry looked over and nodded, "There's probably a Nargle infestation in it or something."

"Nargle?" Natasha asked.

"Luna has always seen things nobody else could. I'm thinking it has something to do with her fae heritage. It caused her to get bullied a lot, though." Harry answered honestly.

"Well, that won't happen here." Natasha said. "Any idea how long she is staying?"

"That actually worries me." Harry said. "I get the feeling that coming to this reality is a one-way trip."

"You mean she left her people to come join you here?" Natasha asked, shocked.

"I'm not sure, but if she needs a place, I intend to give it to her." Harry said. "Would you mind if she takes the spare room for a while?"

"Of course, Harry." Natasha said as if it was a stupid question. "Did you think I was going to kick her out?"

"No, I didn't." Harry said. "It's just that the guest house is already booked to capacity and I was just worried about adding another person to the house already."

"As well you should be." Frigga's voice said from close by. She had been approaching them with Odin. "My blessings may just be strong enough to overpower your protections from childbearing."

"Mother!" Harry exclaimed.

"Don't blame her for being who she is." Odin admonished. "It's also something we wouldn't mind seeing before we become too old to enjoy it…"

Natasha smirked at his discomfort, "I don't know. I think we could start our family in the next year or two, if our other plans work out first, of course." Everyone knew she meant the dark clouds gathering on the horizon of their respective futures. Ragnarok for the Aesir and Thanos for Earth.

"Of course." Frigga said in understanding. Then she smiled at them again, "I'm so happy that you two were finally able to bind your lives properly."

"Indeed." Odin agreed. "It will be good for Frigga to have a daughter to help her keep the men in check."

"Am I not enough?" a voice said from behind them. Hela had approached.

Harry was not looking forward to this, but Hela was his sister and he'd not have left her out of this. "Hela." He greeted with a nod. "Thank you for accepting the offer and joining us today."

"My schedule was open." Hela said simply. Then she turned to Frigga, "I hear you will be staying a while. It will be good to have someone around that knows how to keep the old man in line." She wasn't friendly, per se, but she still remembered the threat when Natasha was hurt. She could respect the amount of dedication the woman had. The fact that she was dedicated to Natasha, someone Hela had grown to appreciate the company of, being a warrior in her own right, made her respect grow, reluctantly. If she was going to be an aunt, she was glad there would be strong female role models, all around.

"At last, the family has finally come together." Loki said as he and Thor approached too. He bowed to Natasha, "Queen Natasha. I gladly welcome you to the family."

"Stop that," Natasha reprimanded, "I'm still just Natasha."

"Maybe, but now you have a people who would all like to see an heir. And a husband who I'm certain will have fun putting one in you." Thor smiled at her.

"We're in no hurry." one of the Elves called over. They really had phenomenal senses.

Everyone laughed, and Hela was surprised that she didn't feel left out of the conversation. In fact it seemed like the gathered group had formed around her, rather than just Harry and Natasha. Everyone glancing at her, when they made jokes and making sure she didn't feel excluded somehow. She couldn't take too much of that though, and soon returned to her table, where she was seated next to Logan. May Parker was on his other side and laughing at something MJ had said who was also seated with them, along with Peter, who insisted he be called Pete. The last of the people at their table were Gamora, Nebula and Peter Quill.

Hela had been told that all the women at her table were strong in their own right and even though young Pete's companion was just a mortal, she showed signs of being highly intelligent. Harry had hopes of recruiting her once she was done with her normal education. May Parker had a certain relaxed nature, but turned out to be a motherly sort, who showed actual caring and a friendly welcoming personality to everyone. She was told that May also ruled the medical department with an iron fist, not even backing down to Harry when he was in her domain. Hela ended up bonding the most with Nebula and Gamora. Both could sympathize with her issues with her father, as they had been raised by the Mad Titan himself. They could also drink almost as well as she could.

The Peters also hit it off, even though their pop culture references were a big divide. Pete promised to send him a collection of must watch movies and Peter accepted easily. Pete secretly hoped to join him in watching some of the movies, just to see his reaction to some of the scarier ones. He'd be horrified to know that Peter had seen worse, when the day came.

Most of the other guests had already met and people mingled happily. Mutants, aliens, gods and other powered individuals mixing with normal humans and highly trained professionals. Yondu stayed well clear of the representatives from the Nova Corps, even though his records had been expunged.

The music that they listened to was quiet to begin with. Calm and classical. That stayed true only until the King and his new Queen opened the dance-floor. After that, things started picking up pace. By the time the main course had been served, people started flocking to the dance-floor that now played up beat popular music mixed with other genres, which people could request from the DJ, Jarvis.

Many toasts were made, but Harry didn't allow himself to get too drunk and constantly cast sobering charms on himself. On one or two occasions people were handed sobering charm pills. Nobody needed to be reminded to control themselves, as each guest was gifted a gift packet containing some of the pills that EPI now produced for people in the know. For very select few, there was the added extra gift of a one-time use ring with Harry's personal pleasure charm on it. Along with the newly created contraceptive charm pill and instructions, of course.

He imagined a few people would have fun with those this evening.

Among the guests were all the residents of the island, including Eldrin, who Harry refused to allow to work this evening. He was a friend and a guest, after all. That didn't stop Eldrin from making a couple of cocktails for some of the ladies who were flirting outrageously with him. The female elves and Nymphs were also drawing quite a bit of attention and were enjoying the company of the other guests.

Since Harry had bonded with Xera, the other Nymphs no longer needed to get so much attention from him and they had started spending time with some of the regular guests and the male elves. It was never discussed, but Harry was aware that some of them had started dating and seeing the men that were available to them through regular contact.

At this point all of them had been given lockets that connected to their trees and they had been allowed on shopping trips and tours of various countries, to familiarise themselves with the world they now called home. Fury insisted on supplying them with protective details. Even so, they always returned to their grove. Any men they entertained the company of in an intimate way, would do so in the guest house, or behind closed doors, to protect the younger Nymphs and to avoid the inevitable orgy that tended to happen when Nymphs lived in close proximity.

Natasha had had a talk with Xera, who in turn had spoken with her grove. They were well aware of the rules that they had to follow in such situations. They couldn't steal men from spouses or girlfriends and no allure was allowed, outside of the bedroom of course. Men were also required to supply protection, unless the Nymph and a specific partner declared their intent to be bound together.

It was not their way, but they understood that it was more to protect the men in that case. Paternity issues could cause problems if provision wasn't made for that kind of relationship and men needed to understand that their children would be Nymphs as well. They'd need to understand that the Nymphs would have certain proclivities and they'd need to accept that fact.

One of the Elves had taken two Nymph partners on the island already and they were deliriously happy together. No pregnancies had occurred yet, but Xera had hope that her grove would soon start growing. She noticed a couple of the mutant and human guests pairing up with Nymphs as well. They were of an acceptable age, so she had no problems with them. She just wanted to make sure that the men knew what they were getting into and weren't just using them.

The Council of Earth were represented as well and now included members from over fifty countries. That number was climbing fast too. Fury had insisted that they attend, since New Atlantis was also part of that Council.

The Wakandan royalty were shocked at seeing all of the guests, not having realized exactly how varied the allies of New Atlantis were, until seeing it for themselves. They were still accompanied by the Royal Guard, but they were also invited guests and all seated in advantageous positions. Fury had wanted to supply security, but Harry had refused, stating that there were enough powered people and friends from every branch of EPI.

T'Challa was seen talking animatedly with Ororo Monroe, apparently having met her on another occasion and for those who watched, there was definitely chemistry in the air. Shuri had found Reed Richards and was talking tech, while Sue Richards was chatting with Charles Xavier and Jean Grey.

At some point, Ben Grim spoke quietly to Harry, who smiled and nodded. He cast a spell so Ben could be heard by all and he took the stage and made a short speech before proposing to his girl. When she said yes, Harry was about to cast some fairy lights on the engaged couple, but Luna beat him to it. He was shocked at first, but then finally remembered that there were now three spell casters on the island.

Not many people had realised this and soon Luna was having discussions with everyone, who wanted to know her story. Because she was Harry's friend, she was instantly accepted and welcomed. The elves who had been following her around like Harry had predicted, seemed to have decided that she was their responsibility and Luna was never seen outside their company. Harry suspected that they'd be giving her the tour of the island if he didn't get to it first. He resolved to have that discussion with her this evening still.

Harry hadn't had a lot of time to speak to his old friend so far and Natasha had given him a couple of minutes to catch up a bit. Harry didn't even need to bring the difficult subject up, as she confirmed that it was a one-way trip on her own. "Until I make contact with the Fae of this world anyway. They may be capable of offering me similar deals, but my cousin informed me that they lost contact with this reality's courts a while back and she thinks that they were either blocked or killed."

"I hate to tell you this, but your cousin was right." Harry said sadly. "Apparently the fae of this world resided on a different planet, rather than in another dimension. They were all most likely killed. We haven't seen or heard from them and we've been looking." He sighed, before continuing, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but I don't think you'll be able to get back."

Luna just smiled at him, "Don't worry, Harry. I was aware that it might be something like that. That's why I only came now. I didn't want to miss your wedding."

Harry was shocked, but also kind of suspected it. "One day, you and I will have a long conversation about what you see when you look at the world."

Luna patted his arm soothingly, "You wouldn't understand it if I told you. On the bright side, I seem to be making friends fast! You've made so many nice friends!"

"That's what happens when you abuse Hermione's sign-up sheet magic to make magical contracts that allow me to help the non-magical." Harry said with a grin.

"You also seem to have gotten quite powerful." Luna agreed, not seeming shocked at all. Then she focussed on his hand. "Your magic seems to be flowing to that hand. Is it something that happened when you became the Master of Death?"

"Shush!" Harry said quickly, completely ignoring the fact that Luna could somehow tell what hand his power ring was on, through its Fidelius. "I'm not exactly advertising that." he whispered urgently.

Luna cocked her head to the side, "Why? Aren't you just doing him a favour? I doubt he'd mind if you told people."

Harry's head reeled at that. "How do you…?" Then he thought better of it, "You know what, never mind. I don't want to know." Then he had a thought, "How's your occlumency?"

"I don't have any training in it, though I suspect I don't need it." Luna said easily. "People who try to read my mind tend to get a headache and pass out." Then she giggled, "It was funny that one time in potions class when Professor Snape tried it. He never made eye-contact with me again."

Harry laughed at that. "Man, what I'd give to see that. Can you share the memory?"

"Do you have a Pensieve?" Luna countered. "I've always wanted to try one, but Daddy said they were too expensive to buy on the Quibbler's budget."

Harry smiled and pulled out his personal Pensieve tablet. "I brought one here with me and my friend made me this after he figured out the runes." he said placing it in front of her. "It works just like a normal Pensieve, but has a couple of extra features."

Luna nodded and placed her wand against her head and Harry showed her how to deposit a memory the alternate way as well. She thought it was nifty, but preferred to try it with her wand. It was the experience she had hoped for after all. She wasn't able to succeed right away and Harry gave her some instruction until a thin thread of memory finally exited her mind. Harry was aware that occlumency wasn't strictly needed but useful for making the extraction simpler.

Luna entered the memory and when she came back to herself, she smiled at him and pushed the tablet to him. Harry entered the memory and was happy to see the full memory of Snape making eye-contact with Luna, when she was still in first year he noted, and promptly grabbing his head in apparent pain, before ducking behind his table, to not be seen.

When Harry came out he was smiling from ear to ear. "That was so much fun to see! Snape wasn't really an enemy at the end, but he deserved what he got from you. Thanks for showing me that. It was the perfect wedding gift!"

Luna smiled, before saying with a mischievous look, "So, should I keep your actual gift for your next wedding or should I just give it to Natasha?"

"Next wedding?" Harry asked.

"The Nymph, Xera." Luna nodded. "Isn't she your girlfriend as well? She kissed you and Natasha after the ceremony, after all."

"It's complicated." Harry said. "New Atlantis has a lot of my magic running through it. The Nymphs are connected to it and through it to me. They needed Xera to bond with me, but now that you mention it, I probably should consider making things official with her too." he finished with a thoughtful look.

"Maybe." Luna said. "It might not be necessary. I just thought you'd end up doing that anyway." she shrugged. "So, do you want your gift?" she asked again.

Harry couldn't help himself, as he smiled. "Of course I want your gift!" he exclaimed. "Should I call Natasha?" he asked.

"It's not necessary." Luna said as she removed a small pouch from inside her jacket. She handed it to Harry, who opened it and looked inside.

"What is it?" Harry asked, looking at the strange dark dust-like substance, which moved in strange undulating patterns.

"Primal dust." Luna said. "Also known as-"

"Prima Materia!" Harry exclaimed. "Where did you find this?!"

"I took it from the winter court." Luna said. "They weren't using it and I thought it was appropriate as a symbol of new beginnings."

"Harry, did I just hear-" Natasha said as she walked up to him.

"Yes!" Harry said excitedly. He kept his hands steady though as he showed her the undulating substance. It moved like it was a cross between dust and water. "Luna gave this to us as a wedding gift!"

Natasha was now excited as well. "I can only imagine Bruce's reaction. And Tony's!" she exclaimed.

"Come on!" Harry enthused as he made a beeline for where Bruce was chatting with Reed and Shuri. When they arrived, Harry noted Natasha having moved off to fetch Tony.

"Hi Harry. What's got you so excited?" Bruce asked.

Harry didn't answer immediately as he waited for Tony. Once Tony had arrived, following Natasha, Harry opened the draw-strings again and held it out for Bruce and Tony to see.

"What's that?" Tony asked. "It looks strange. Is it alive?"

"Luna's wedding present to Natasha and I." Harry said. "She called it Primal Dust!" he informed them excitedly.

"WHAT?!" Tony and Bruce exclaimed together.

Harry shushed them down with a gesture and a smile, "I know, right?"

"This will be so useful in our research!" Bruce exclaimed, while trying to keep his voice down.

"Since this is our only sample, we'll need to be very careful with it, okay?" Harry asked.

"Of course." Bruce said solemnly. "Still, I look forward to studying it."

"We'll be working on that together." Tony insisted. "This is too big to leave me out of it."

"We can talk about that after the Honeymoon." Harry said.

"Where are we going?" Natasha asked with a sweet smile.

"You and I are going to travel to a couple of planets that have intergalactic communities and centres of commerce." Harry said with a smile. "Starting on Xandar."

"I've wanted to go spend time on Xandar." Natasha nodded with a smile. "The few reports I've gotten intrigued me."

"I know." Harry said.

The rest of the evening went as could be expected. People inevitably began getting rowdy and fun was had all around. The ballroom was banished in favour of the resorts other attractions. The kids were mostly occupying themselves on the waterslide, lit up with a vast array of lights to add to the atmosphere and ensure safety.

The tables stayed in place, but now they could appreciate the night sky, which was again lit up with the tiny lights Harry had once used to illuminate the entire island. Loki was taking people for flights over the island on the larger carpet to show them the sight from the outside. Luna was one of his first passengers and they seemed to be getting along well, which made Harry happy.

Luna needed friends and Loki knew so few people he could converse with about the intricacies of magic. The fact that she didn't treat him like he could snap and attack at any moment helped. Not many people afforded him the opportunity to get to know them, since they all thought of him as a reformed criminal. Luna was already informed by the elves, but she didn't really care, because she trusted Harry's judgement.

Harry also noted that once they landed Luna went straight to Logan. Loki must have informed her of his travels to other worlds to acquire magical animals. After that, she was soon spotted in deep conversation with Lady Sif, who smiled tolerantly and indulged in her incessant need to ask questions about what she knew and what she had seen. He had no doubt she'd be joining them in their future excursions.

The party was still in full swing by the time Harry and Natasha left to get some rest. They had been up talking to the hundreds of guests for a long time and, while they were happy, they were also tired and their night wasn't close to being over either. They said goodnight to the guests and retired to their home to cat-calls and whistles that made Harry smile uncomfortably.

As they stepped into the house, Harry turned to Natasha and said, "Before we go to bed, there's one more thing I'd like to do."

Natasha gave him a sultry smile and asked, "Oh, really? What did you have in mind?"

"Nothing like that… Maybe later." He smiled at her. "I was actually thinking that I'd like to introduce you to my parents."

Natasha's smile changed to one of understanding and nodded. Harry closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment. When he opened his eyes again, James and Lily Potter stood before him.

"My baby boy, we are so proud of you." Lily said first.

"Yes!" James enthused with a huge smile. "My son! The King of Atlantis. Prince of the gods. God of Sex and making cool stuff! You have made us so proud!"

"You were watching?" Harry asked, his voice breaking under the onslaught of emotions. "You saw?"

"Of course we were, my darling boy." Lily said. "We promised, after all." Then she turned to Natasha, "And you, my beautiful daughter-in-law! Thank you for watching after our Harry! We could not wish for a better match for our Harry than you."

"Definitely." James nodded along. "That Weasley girl was nice and all, but she was hardly your equal, Harry." He turned back to Natasha, "This one, on the other hand! She's got the right stuff to keep a Potter in line!" He smirked at Harry, "Moony is going to be so jealous when he finds out you summoned us first. He's been running around every couple of days, just singing your praises and telling people about how awesome you are!"

"So you're all back together again?" Harry asked.

"Kind of." James said, but before he could continue, Lily gave him a stern look.

"Don't say anything more. You know it is forbidden!" she insisted.

"But I wasn't going to-" James tried again, only for Lily to stick a finger in his face.

"Stop, James. You know where this conversation goes if you continue." she insisted again.

"It's okay dad." Harry said. "I also have some things I'm forbidden to talk about otherwise-"

"Harry." Natasha said dangerously. "I'm thinking you can drop it too."

"Yes dear." Harry said obediently.

"Bloody rules of t-" James started only for Lily's hand to cover his mouth.

"I'm afraid your father has never been one to like rules. If we stay here, he'll likely get us both in trouble." She turned to Natasha, "It was a genuine pleasure to meet you, Natasha."

"It was nice to meet you too, Mrs Potter." Lily said with a smile.

"Please, call me Lily." she turned to Harry. "If you will send us back, please? Your father and I need to have a conversation."

"Okay." Harry said with a soft smile. "It was nice to see you again. Hopefully, next time I summon you, I'll know what he was trying to say and there won't be any temptation."

"Thank you for understanding, dear." Lily said with a soft smile of her own.

James wouldn't be sent back without a final word, however, so he removed Lily's hand and said, "Next time, let us meet your family. I really want to meet Loki."

Lily nodded as well, "We must thank Odin and Frigga in person. They've done a lot for you and we could never thank them enough."

"I'll make sure to remind him." Natasha promised.

They said their goodbyes, which turned into another scolding session from Lily as she needed to stop James again, but Harry suspected he had done it on purpose that time, just to play with her. They vanished with Lily still scolding him, but Harry could see a smile on her face. Then he and Natasha went to bed and Harry rested well that night, knowing his parents were proud of who he had become.

The next morning, they slept late and when they exited their house at close to lunch-time, it was to see the party was still going, but with most of the guests having returned by portkey to their homes. There were a couple of cots, which Harry assumed were conjured by Luna or Wanda, with people still sleeping under umbrellas.

There was a cheer and Thor downed his current drink before smiling and walking up to the happily married couple. "Good morrow, brother!" He turned to Natasha and nodded, "Sister-in-law. What brings you two from the marital bed so soon? I would have thought you'd be loath to leave it for many days!"

"It was tempting," Natasha admitted, "but we do need to eat and I have to have more of the wedding cake. It's delicious!"

"We had to stop Volstagg from eating the whole thing! I think he was about to start a fight over it, until father stepped in and directed him to the chocolate fountain. I'm afraid that the fountain soon ran dry, much to the chagrin of many." Thor replied.

Harry chuckled, "Remind me to get him one of those, enchanted like the taps. It seems that one was more appreciated than I would have thought."

"That and the champagne fountain." Thor said. "It ran dry the fastest."

"Really?!" Harry asked. "But it should have lasted the longest! It was magically stocked with hundreds of bottles of champagne!"

"You underestimated the appetite of the Aesir!" Odin laughed as he joined the conversation. He and Frigga had gone to rest at a reasonable hour and was up much earlier. "We weren't that many, but our prowess was well represented." he said. Harry had invited the Warriors Three and a couple of acquaintances.

One or two of the higher ranked lords of Vanaheim were also in attendance and they were all what Harry would call functional alcoholics. The fact that they were used to stronger drink made him put Asgardian grade alcohol on all their tables with orders for the wait staff to keep it coming should they finish anything, but apparently the champagne was very much enjoyed and so it was quickly consumed. Harry knew that meant he'd need to think about that for his next magical alcohol, after the beer he was planning for Thor's representation to the line.

Natasha had gone off to get some of the cake, which Eldrin had apparently spirited away to a stasis closet at the bar. It was a huge cake, to provide for the many guests, but apparently it was almost as popular as the champagne as it was almost completely consumed. There was also an enormous amount of left-over food, which was also stored in stasis.

Harry planned on giving Volstagg free reign to eat as much of it as he could, otherwise it could potentially last for months. Even though it was all completely safe, stored in stasis, and could last as long as needed, indefinitely possibly, it would still become tiring to eat the same thing over and over again. Harry was thinking he could transfigure it into other dishes, at least, so it wouldn't go to waste.

He was handed a plate of cake and smiled at his wife, "Thank you, Mrs Potter."

"You're welcome Mr Potter." Natasha said with a smile and a kiss on his cheek. She would use her maiden name for business and out in the world, but she had decided that she'd like to take Harry's name on the island.

"Cake for breakfast." Harry said. "Breakfast of champions."

"Sumo champions, maybe." Loki joked, as he walked to them, accompanied by Luna, who had dragged him to go see the animals that morning.

"Your sister is mean." Luna said with a pout, stalling Harry's objection to Loki beating him to the tour.

"Why?" Harry asked instead.

"She wouldn't let me take Agnar for a flight!" Luna complained. "He's a magnificent specimen. If I had a paper, I could write a whole article just about him."

Harry smiled at his friend. "Agnar is her mount and she's very attached to him. I'm surprised she let you near her Thestrals at all."

"She didn't seem to have a problem with me." Luna said. "In general anyway."

"That's because you showed her that trick with the food." Loki laughed. He turned to Harry, "Did you know Thestrals liked smoked meats?"

"I did not." Harry said. "Luna has always been good with the misunderstood creatures."

"It's because I spent a lot of time with Hagrid at school." Luna said. "He was going to join me on an expedition to go looking for the Crumple-Horned Snorkack, after daddy died." she said with a tone of sadness in her voice.

"I'm sorry, Luna." Harry said sincerely.

"Whatever for?" Luna asked back. "I doubt daddy blamed you for his death." she said. "We all knew you were doing all you could. What we didn't like was when you stopped visiting us, while you were on your crusade to kill Voldemort for good."

Natasha put a hand over Harry's mouth, when he made to apologise again. "Stop it. She's not angry. You don't need to apologise for everything."

"He's still doing that, then?" Luna asked.

"Yes." came the communal response from everyone that knew Harry.

"Silly Harry." Luna chided. "I knew you were going to fix everything in the end. That's what the fae courts all believe. They said something about coming into your power first, though."

Harry looked up at her quickly, "You know how I'm supposed to fix it?"

Luna just shrugged. "I think it's one of those things that can't be explained without getting a headache, so I never paid much attention."

Harry deflated in disappointment. "At least there's no prophecy with strange instructions that are open for interpretation in hundreds of ways." he said.

"Oh, I'm sure there are, but because you don't know anything about it, you can do whatever you like and it will likely still fulfil all of them." Luna said. "It's the reason why prophecies are so vague. It highlights one thing with certainty and then gives you hope that there is a way to fix things. The faith you have in the prophecy then empowers it, making all prophecy self-fulfilling, really."

That statement sounded so familiar to him and it hit Harry hard. "How do you know about these things?" he asked incredulously.

"I did finish my NEWT-level divination studies under Firenze." Luna said with a smile. "I wish you had Centaurs on the island. They always felt so connected to the workings of things."

"They haven't been seen in hundreds of years. We know there used to be Centaurs on Alfheim, but they went missing along with the fae, during the slaughter at the hands of the dark elves." Odin said solemnly.

"Oh, I'm sure they're just hiding." Luna said with a certainty that made Harry think she knew more than she said. It was not a new feeling.

"Another self-fulfilling prophecy?" Frigga asked with a raised brow.

"Maybe." Luna said with a smile at Frigga. "I like you. You know how to make things happen."

Frigga smiled back at the girl, "I like you too Luna. Maybe we can discuss your studies into divination at some point?"

"I'd like that." Luna said with a smile. "Did you know that there are no Wrackspurts on this island?" she asked, then.

"What are those?" Frigga asked. Luna took her by the arm and walked away, starting an explanation about how Wrackspurt infestations caused conflicts and that it was the reason people had the inclination to fight when all they had to do was talk about their grievances. It was apparently also a useful way to see invisible things, as Wrackspurts were drawn to intrigue.

"She's a strange one." Loki said as he looked after them. "I like her, though."

"Yeah, about that." Harry said. "Luna was picked on a lot during her time at school. I'd like to ask that you spare her your pranks. She might smile and tolerate them, but you'll make her feel like you dislike her."

"Of course." Loki said with a nod and a thoughtful look. "Did you ever punish those responsible?" he asked.

"She wouldn't ever tell us who did it." Harry denied. "She'd just blame the Wrackspurts and smile that smile. There was this one time I found her walking the school in the middle of the night looking for her stolen items. It was the middle of winter in a castle in Scotland and she didn't have shoes, because they were all 'taken by the Wrackspurts'. I seriously contemplated murder that night."

"As would I." Loki said with contempt dripping from his statement, with sounds of enthusiasm from those within earshot. "She is your precious friend, Harry. I doubt any on your island would make her feel unwelcome." he promised.

"What do you suppose she will do, while she acclimates to life on the island and in this reality?" Odin asked.

"I don't know." Harry said honestly. "But I suspect I'll set her up with a magazine to publish. The Quibbler was both her job and her favourite pastime. It was considered a tabloid of sorts, but the stories were all based in fact and when you read around the fantasy, you'd find that she had some real insight about the world."

"Expanding your business again?" Natasha asked.

"Nah." Harry said. "I'll endorse it, but she can run it herself. Who knows, maybe there's a market for her unique perspective?"

"Let's find out from her what she wants to do, before we decide on the direction of her life, shall we?" Loki asked. "Who knows, maybe she'll decide to stay on the island and bask in all the attention the elves are giving her."

"I doubt it." Harry said. "I could be wrong, but she might just think that's how they are."

"I think so too." Natasha said. "She speaks to them like they are all equals, even while they speak to her with utmost respect, bordering on worship."

The discussion on what Luna would be doing soon ended when she and Frigga walked out of the woods, followed by a couple of unicorns, who stayed behind the tree line, just looking after her. It made a certain sense to Harry.

When breakfast/lunch was over, they spent the day relaxing with the remainder of the guests. They would leave that evening to Xandar, where they intended to spend a week before going to a place called Sakaar, which was supposed to be a hub of activity and trade, though it was also the home to many less than reputable markets. Something about its proximity to a nexus of wormholes caused time to flow differently there, so they could spend a year there and only miss just under nine minutes on Earth, which was why they decided on it, when they found out about it.

Harry had wanted to make a large ship for them, with a large interior and all the extras, including training facilities and a lab, but Natasha had insisted that they rent a place and spend the time to get to know the culture there, which was why Rocket had supplied them with a memory and location of a wormhole that would take them to Sakaar.

They left that evening after ensuring Luna was well taken care of. She was still planning on going on excursions with Logan, but was hitting it off with Wanda as well, who was thrilled at having another source of magical knowledge. Without Harry there to activate the room for tutors for her, Luna had been co-opted to help her with that and she had asked only to accompany Wanda as she went to different worlds to find magically attuned wood for her wands.

Bruce had also started spending time with Luna to take advantage of her knowledge on xenobiology. A subject in which she was almost an expert.

All in all, Harry had no doubt that Luna was well cared for and could leave with a clear conscious.

They arrived on Xandar and was given a tour of the Nova Corps headquarters. Harry was surprised to be informed that he had been given quarters and a rank as a commander for his contributions to their legal system. Memories were not easy to fake and willingly submitting memories could clear a wrongfully accused of any wrongdoing as well as assist in tracking the real perpetrators. Comparing multiple memories was considered to be fool proof, when available

The quarters were not large, but they were comfortable and they had free access to transport while they were touring the planet and seeing the sights. Harry had arranged some credits, the commonly used currency, and been shown how the system worked, so they had money to spend and could shop for souvenirs and technology as they went. The amount of credits he had, made it so he could buy basically anything.

When the first week was up, they decided to go home to check on things, before their trip to Sakaar. Harry quickly got an update and had to open the vault for a delivery from Coulson. Apparently they had had the Darkhold and lost it to an enemy. When it was recovered they had used it through an artificially intelligent Life Model Decoy (LMD) called AIDA, a new development from one of their contacts, to help rescue Phil Coulson and Leo Fitz, who had apparently been stuck between dimensions after their quarry at the time used a machine to turn himself into an enhanced with the power to create matter from nothing.

The enhanced had been dealt with, but the LDM, AIDA, had been found by SHIELD staff, who were on strict orders to monitor her due to her contact with the Darkhold, trying to print herself a biological body using the process they had used to make Vision. She had been given the option to sign a contract and refused, so she had been sent into a time-dilated cell to keep her in stasis until they could figure out a way to safely scan her mind, without the risk of damaging any of the systems involved.

Harry had been shocked that things had gotten so hectic in just a week, but he was told that Coulson's team had been assigned more staff with magical training to help assist in their work. All things considered, they were doing quite well and had made peaceful contact with many enhanced, some of whom were changed by an unknown alien substance to activate a mutagenic gene, which existed in a small percentage of normal humans. Something other than the X-gene and apparently alien.

Once the book was safely put away, Harry signed some paperwork and received a new device from Tony, which used rune-portal links to a system on their side, which would keep him updated on anything that was happening during his couple of minutes away. Tony considered it necessary, since the time-dilation on the planet would make it impossible for calls in real-time. The only person who would be capable of doing that was Jarvis, so he would be in charge of keeping Harry up to date.

The important part, though. Was giving Harry access to their systems, should he need it. He can also upload new data to the system, so they can use any new information for their database. Tony encouraged Harry to keep a log of what they were doing. That way he could keep track. He fully intended on sitting in front of his computer and reading everything as it was typed. It was only a couple of minutes after all.

They left that evening and arrived on Sakaar. What they found was quite a shock to them. The city was divided into sections of the elite, the poor and the outcasts. While the elite spent their time in luxury and entertained themselves with all-day parties and barbaric matches of combat to the death, the poor strived to earn enough to live on, while being forced to attend the gladiator events.

The outcasts who lived on the outskirts of the city scrounged for food and would willingly eat people when they became hungry enough. Harry had been fuming when he found out, but Natasha had insisted that they find out everything first. It wasn't their place to dictate the actions of other worlds. They could try and help, but considering the time dilation, they would need to pour an infinite amount of resources at the problem from Earth and it would still not be enough.

Instead, they spent time in learning about the cultures on the planet and found that because of the time dilation, the city was actually quite advanced. While the poor worked hard, they also lacked for nothing and were being supported by many of the elite. It turns out they were already taking steps to help those less fortunate.

The real problem was the starving on the outskirts of the city. They weren't just poor and disenfranchised. Instead, these were the people who had committed crimes, but were not strong enough to be used for the gladiator ring, the usual punishment for lawbreakers, so they were banished and not allowed into the city, except to trade food for things they salvaged. Harry had quickly purchased as many supplies as he could and started a homeless shelter. Natasha didn't mind the effort they put in as she knew he wouldn't be able to help himself.

Building a big enough location and beds for all those who needed a place was simple enough. Harry had to re-enforce everything with magic when it became obvious these people would simply bulldoze right through the building if it was the shortest path between two locations. He had not been happy to find that out and by the next time an idiot thought his dormitories looked like a fun target to ram through, they had lost their ship.

Harry's next step was to create a transfiguration device, a new one he had never thought to make until the need arose. It would first cleanse anything placed in a receptacle, removing anything that was inedible, and then change the mass of raw material into squares of nutrition bars, which would work as a meal replacement. Clean water took a bit longer, but Harry finally decided to just use the rune cluster to cleanse water in a different device.

Setting that up took the better part of a month and by the end of it, they had trained people in the use of the devices and ensured a ward would protect the production location from evil intent. They were not surprised that the large majority of people who ended up working there were female. They were trying to care for the young, who had been born on the bad side of town. The entire dormitory had wards to protect from anyone that wanted to cause trouble as well.

This left them with a bit of a hiccup. While they had the production facilities, they didn't have the raw material food they would need to feed the many mouths in that section of town. That led them to the situation they found themselves in early in the next month.

"Ah! You must be the famous philanthropists who have been helping the criminals on the outskirts." the Grand Master said.

"That would be us!" Harry agreed with a smile.

"Idiots." stated the woman standing by his side. She seemed like a grumpy one.

"Now don't go judging people you don't know, Topaz." the Grand Master said with an indulgent smile. "They might not know how things work here."

"Thanks GM." Harry said as he conjured himself a comfortable chair and one for Natasha too. They had discussed things and decided that with all the technology in play on this planet, Harry shouldn't hold back. "I don't suppose you'd mind if we had a drink, while we talk? I could offer you one, too?" he said as he produced a bottle from a pocket. It was not missed that it was a big bottle and it came from his breast pocket, where nothing had seemed to be before.

"How are you doing that?" the Grand Master asked, ignoring Harry's purposefully casual use of his name.

"Magic." Harry said with an easy smile. "Though I'd appreciate it if that stays between us. Don't want the world to know now, do we?" He poured three drinks in conjured glasses and floated one over to the Grand Master, who took it, but he didn't drink, until Harry said, "Cheers!" and downed his glass before pouring another one.

Natasha took a sip of hers and blew a gout of flame, before swallowing. "Ah!" she said theatrically. "I love it when you bring out the good alcohol."

"Nothing but the best for you, honey." Harry said with a smile.

The Grand Master looked between them suspiciously, before he sniffed at the drink and having the smallest of sips. He cringed at the burning sensation, but then smiled as the calm hit him. "Oh, this is good!" He sat back with a contented smile before addressing the pair in front of him. "You'll have to get me some of this."

"I'll consider it, depending on how things go here." Harry said easily. "Our main purpose is to talk to you about the outcasts you have here on Sakaar."

"Scum." came the unwarranted commentary from Topaz.

The Grand Master just smiled. "And what would you like to discuss?" he asked.

"I don't know if you are aware, but not all who live on the outskirts are criminals." Harry started. "Some people have families and people are dying of starvation. We'd like to secure food for those in need. All you'd need to do is declare that left-overs, or at least uneaten food, even spoiled, be taken to the dormitory in the part of town I purchased."

"Why would we do that?" the Grand Master asked. "People are banished to the outskirts because they perform a vital function."

"Worms." Topaz said.

"You're saying they are just part of the cycle here on Sakaar?" Harry asked. He wasn't happy about it, but he understood he had no right to make demands here, unless he wanted to take over. From what he had been hearing, though, the Grand Master ruled with a bit of charisma, a lot of fear and an overuse of manpower. He also knew that the Grand Master had a love of partying and indulging in his pastimes.

"They scavenge through the things that fall from the wormholes and bring what they find to those who can reuse them in exchange for necessities." the Grand Master said. "We already support those from the lower-income districts with what we can."

"That's not enough, though." Harry said. "We've set up some devices that make plant matter and meat which was spoiling into something edible. What we need is the raw materials so that those we've left in charge can produce sustenance for those in need. There are innocent children suffering out there and I don't like children suffering."

"Harry has a soft spot for helping children." Natasha said.

"Eat them." Topaz said.

The Grand master turned around and looked incredulously at the woman. "Topaz! What is it with you today?" he asked.

The woman shrugged and said, "Protein."

The Grand master laughed at that, but responded, "We won't be doing that. Seriously, you're so bad today." he admonished still with a smile. Then he turned back to his guests, having missed the flash of Harry's eyes and when Natasha took his hand to help him control his emotions. "Is there anything else we can do for you?" This time he was not smiling. He did not appreciate people coming to his world and telling him how to run things. That only lasted until he took another sip of the drink and smiled again. "This really is good!" he noted.

"Thank you Grand Master," Natasha answered for Harry, who was still fuming at Topaz, "but if you can't see your way to helping these people, we'll have to come up with something else." She looked at her husband and said, "Come on Harry. I don't think the Grand Master wants to deal."

Harry nodded and stood up. The Grand Master did not like where this was going. He needed to secure some of this wonderful drink. "I didn't say we couldn't come to an arrangement." he said with a winning smile. "I just need to think of a good enough reason to make a change. Perhaps a wager?" he asked.

"What did you have in mind?" Harry asked.

"Have you ever been to the fights?" the Grand Master asked.

From there it was an easy thing to arrange. The Grand Master needed them to put someone in a fight and they would bet a large supply of Firewhiskey against support for the Dormitories.

Harry had quickly disappeared, grabbed Bruce and reappeared on the planet where Natasha was, using her ring as his guide. Natasha was at the dormitories again, helping arrange scouting parties and scavengers to go look for food in places where it would be easier to obtain. She had turned a blind eye when some of the meat they brought in for processing was clearly an arm from some sort of alien humanoid. It had scales and four fingers, but it looked far too human for Natasha to want to think about.

Bruce had been standing next to Tony, reading Harry's logs, when he arrived and disappeared again. He knew about the time dilation and knew he could spare a couple of moments in real-time. Hulk had jumped at the opportunity and soon Harry had arranged a fight for him. The Grand Master had laughed when Harry told him Hulk would be able to fight every single one of their fighters and had upped the stakes, to double the support for one shipment of Firewhiskey and another shipment of Tempest Rum. After tasting that one, the Grand Master had instantly agreed. Harry thought he liked that one even better. He was proud of his own creation.

Needless to say, Hulk easily defeated all comers in single combat. Even when the stakes were upped to multiple opponents, Hulk simply laughed and continued winning. When Topaz tried to hit both Harry and Natasha with some sort of device to try and disable them they just dropped to the floor, sparking.

Harry had known to expect something. Dictatorships weren't built on kept promises and trust. He just turned to the Grand Master and winked. "I think we'll be sticking around to make sure the dormitories get what you promised."

The Grand Master scowled, but sighed in defeat. "Alright, alright." he grumped. "How much would it cost me to buy more of those?" he asked indicating the bottles Harry had brought for the occasion.

"We can discuss it." Harry said with a deceptively calm smile. You could attack him and he could forgive you, but Natasha was off limits. "I'm thinking we'll be signing a magically binding contract now, though."

One year after they left, about eight minutes and forty seconds Earth time, Harry had finally had a month of vacation time with Natasha. He had completely reformed the places where the debris landed through the wormholes. What fell through the portals were magically separated and sorted into metal, stone and whatever else came through. Edible substances appeared in a small warehouse and was used by very well trained staff. Living creatures went to another place with strict orders not to eat intelligent beings.

The debris was then carted to a production facility where raw materials could be fed into a similar device as the food processing devices. It formed the different materials into usable shapes. Bricks for building, metal plates, cups and dishes, cutlery, milk bottles, tools and much more. Those were to be distributed fairly and sold off to purchase more supplies for the dormitories.

Harry had worked one final deal with the Grand Master, to arrange for the release of the gladiators as well. They were freed into his custody and they worked for him directly while he arranged things. Harry left a couple of items to empower those who fought, making the fights more entertaining. The deal was to only put the worst criminals in the arena.

Even if the competitors weren't strong, the items would make the fights more entertaining as they emulated the powers of enhanced people he knew, without being able to attack the crowd and losing their powers outside of the stadium. It would also protect them from fatal injuries, ensuring that they could pay for their crimes until they were no longer capable of fighting. What crimes warranted such punishments and how long they would need to compete were also agreed upon.

The part that made the Grand Master agree to the deal, was that any precious metals, gems and valuables were removed when they came through the wormholes and sent to a warehouse sized cupboard in the Grand Master's personal dwelling. Harry had had to pull up the schematics for the PMMG as well and had built one to accumulate and power the systems he had set up, as the enchantments would lose power otherwise. Any excess magic would be sent to his power ring's battery. When full, it would simply stop until it was needed by the enchantments or his battery again.

When they left Sakaar, it was with a couple of hugs to the friends they had made, knowing that in one day for them a hundred and sixty-six years would have passed on Sakaar. It was mind boggling to think how old the Grand Master must be if he was considered millions of years old off of Sakaar, considering that.

Harry and he never really saw eye to eye, but Harry had at least successfully breached the divide between the outcasts and the starving and helped them succeed so that there were only two groups left; the rich and powerful, and what would pass for middle-class in a third-world country on Earth. Those most affected hailed him as the saviour of Sakaar and there was a grand feast in his honour the day before they left.

Harry's final gift to them was a new range of transfiguration devices which would turn the nutrition cubes into more appetizing dishes. That had made the occasion a grand success and people were begging him to stay, but he had a life to go back to. He told them he would come and visit again in a couple of thousand years, if his schedule permitted it.

And that was that. Harry and Natasha had returned to Earth, with a few new friends to add to the ranks of EPI and a whole bunch of tech for the R&D division. It had only been a couple of minutes for them and future trips to Sakaar was being planned already. Apparently Fury had also been reading his logs.

As for Harry and Natasha, they needed a break from people and decided to spend a week in blissful solitude in their house on New Atlantis.

It was one day into the happy couple's last week of holiday, when things started going wrong.